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EARLY 
AMERICAN 
CHILDREN’S BOOKS 
1682-1840 


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The Private Collection of 
Dr. A. 8. W.ROSENBACH 


ON EXHIBITION AT 
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 


1927 


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PRINTED AT THE 


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EARLY AMERICAN 
CHILDREN’S BOOKS, 1682-1840 


The Private Collection of 
DR. 4. 8. W.ROSENBACH 


RHE history of American Children’s 
a Books reveals with amazing fidelity 
\) the change in the outward char- 


SY U% acter of the American child. It 
shows a progress, some would call it a retrogres- 
sion, from the gloomy, suppressed, religion- 
soaked child of Puritan New England to the 
mischievous, pirate-loving, dime-novel reading 
little devil of our own day. It is a delightful 
change from Virtuous William, The Obedient 
Prentice, and Patty Primrose, to Huck Finn, 
Penrod, and Winnie-the-Pooh. 7 

A collection of these early books has an in- 
tense and varied interest. First of all, it gives 
us samples of the mental food our ancestors lived 
on, in the dim forgotten days of their child- 
hood. It illustrates the development of the edu- 
cational system in this country. It emphasizes 
the large place held by religious instruction and 
observance in the life of the American child 
up to 1840. Furthermore, for the specialist, it 


[3] 


is a graphic history of printing in North America. 
These are a few of its more obvious sides. For 
everyone who looks over the little volumes that 
compose it there will be something particularly 
appealing. 

Children, if they like their books at all, 
usually love them literally to bits. Hence it is 
that a large, representative collection of their 
early books is the rarest and most difficult of any 
group of American printing to assemble, and 
could not possibly be accomplished in the col- 
lecting life of one man. In 1851 Moses Polock, 
Dr. Rosenbach’s uncle, bought out the old pub- 
lishing house of McCarthy & Davis. The firm 
was even then over 70 years old, for it was 
successor to Johnson & Warner, which had begun 
business as Jacob Johnson, publisher of chil- 
dren’s books, in 1780. Mr. Polock started to 
collect these children’s books, or Juvenile Libra- 
ries as they were then called, especially the ones 
issued by his predecessors. On the death of 
Mr. Polock, in 1903, the collection came to 
Dr. Rosenbach, who has ever since been adding 
to it, until it now contains nearly 800 volumes. 

The earliest of all is “The Rule of the New- 
Creature,” published in Boston for Mary Avery, 
a book seller, in 1682. As one would expect, 


[4] 


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Teacher tothe Church of Bofex 
New £ pa 


it is a book for religious instruction. The next 
in date, 1684, also printed in Boston, is John 
Cotton’s “Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes. In 
either England: Drawn out of the breasts of 
both Testaments for their Souls nourishment. 
But may be of like use to any Children.” 

From that time the Colonial printers used 
some of their efforts to produce reading matter 
for the young. Imagine a youngster of to-day, 
though, condemned to pass a Sunday evening 
reading the Reverend James Janeway’s “A 
Token for Children, being an Exact Account 
of the Conversion, Holy and Exemplary Lives 
and Joyous Deaths of several Young Children.” 
This cheerful work passed through edition after 
edition, and was the certain means of saving 
many infants from Helland damnation. Cotton 
Mather wrote a continuation of it, to show that 
New England children were no less adept at 
the fashionable art of dying than their little 
contemporaries in the mother country. The only 
copy of the earliest edition here shown of the 
augmented work was published in Philadelphia, 
1749, by Benjamin Franklin, who, though he 
did not at all care for this style of writing, 
undoubtedly knew what would sell well. Some- 
times a particularly brilliant specialist merited 


[5] 


an entire book devoted to her story. Such a one 
was Hannah Hill, Junr., about whom Andrew 
Bradford issued a volume in Philadelphia in 
1717, called “A Legacy for Children.” This 
young woman’s demise occurred at the age of 
eleven years and near three months. Later, pious 
small Indians gave edifying evidence of the same 
knack of praiseworthy, early death, and were 
duly, though posthumously, lauded in various © 
volumes by New England preachers. 

In order to teach the babes their letters — “‘as 
soon as they can speak,” one author says — prim- 
ers were early produced on this side of the 
Atlantic, though many also were imported from 
England. These primers at first all belonged to 
two categories, Royal and New England. The 
former, the less melancholy performance, is 
represented in Dr. Rosenbach’s collection by 
the only known copy of the first American 
edition, 1753, and by one of two copies of the 
next extant, that of 1768. 

The earliest New England primer of which 
an example remains is dated 1727, although 
editions are known to have been printed in the 
century before. Benjamin Franklin and his 
partner, David Hall, sold, according to their 
own records, 37,100 copies of the book in the 


[6] 


seventeen years between 1749 and 1766, but 
only one of that great quantity exists to-day. 
The only copy known of the New England 
Primer printed by David Hall is in this assem- 
blage. Of the tremendous number of editions 
issued all over the American colonies this collec- 
tion has an unusually fine and extensive display. 

Political history is illustrated in the evolution 
of the little book’s frontispiece. First we have 
“George III” in regal attire. Next comes “‘Gen- 
eral Washington.” After that the father of his 
country appears with the legend ‘President of 
the United States of America,” though his own 
mother would scarcely recognize her son’s fea- 
tures in the results of some of the early wood 
engravers’ efforts. 

The contents of the primers are generally 
the same. There is a rhymed alphabet with 
illustrations, words and syllables for spelling 
lessons, and the verses purporting to have been 
written just before his execution by the martyr 
John Rogers for the instruction of his “nine 
small children, and one at the breast.” This 
affecting poem is illustrated by a large woodcut 
depicting the harrowing scene of Rogers at the 
stake, calmly watched by his wife and the nine, 
whose faces look like so many cranberries. The 


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Assembly of Divines’ catechism usually follows, 
and there may or may not be selections from 
Dr. Watts’ “Divine Songs for Children.” 

Our forefathers received further educational 
food from more advanced works of a nature 
tough and sinewy, like the primers’. Reading, 
spelling, arithmetic, geography, a little history, 
the merest pinches of “Newtonian philosophy,” 
geology, natural history and Latin (the Latin 
school-books of this period are to-day among the 
scarcest of all), supplied intellectual nourish- 
ment. Religious education was furthered by 
various published sermons addressed to children, 
by “The History of the Holy Jesus,” numerous 
catechisms, one version for each sect, Dr. Watts’ 
“Divine Songs for the use of Children,” and 
the so-called Bible histories. The social graces 
were developed by a diet of “The School of 
Good Manners,”’ which was a most valuable aid 
to the parents of our little ancestors, judging 
from the times it was reprinted. Its combination 
of deportment and piety evidently pleased the 
fathers and mothers, What the children thought 
of it is not recorded. 

Even the meager and monotonous mental 
food afforded Eighteenth Century American 
youth could not starve out youth’s perennial 


[8] 


belief in his poetic powers. We have “A Monu- 
mental Gratitude Attempted,” in verse by some 
of the members of Yale College, upon their 
deliverance from the dangers of a storm on 
Long Island Sound, published in New London, 
Connecticut, 1727. Thomas Godfrey of Phila- 
delphia printed his “Juvenile Poems, with the 
Prince of Parthia, a Tragedy,” in 1765, just 
as young men to-day rush to the press with their 
earliest stanzas. In 1757 A Young Gentleman 
published “The Choice: a Poem, After the 
Manner of Mr. Promfret.” Even in a repressed 
age the young had their literary fling. 

But a new light was breaking. The whim- 
sicalities of Oliver Goldsmith, with the aid of 
his publisher, John Newberry, were to exert 
their brightening influence in America. The old 
ballads were to be reincarnated, with startling 
innovations. “The History of Mistress Mar- 
gery Two Shoes,” “The Royal Battledoor,” “A 
Pretty Book for Children,” the “Mother Goose 
Melodies,” ‘Fables in Verse,”? “Babes in the 
Wood,” “‘London Cries,” were attractive titles 
for attractive contents. Children were no longer 
taught to die, but encouraged to live! 

The middle Eighteenth Century was the 
golden age of the English novel. Richardson, 


[9] 


Fielding, Smollett, and Sterne were creating 
the wonderful characters that still conjure up a 
smile or a tear. Most of these good old novels 
have come to be known as men’s books, and the 
prudish, we are told, keep some of them under 
lock and key. How we have degenerated since 
the Eighteenth Century! “Tom Jones,” “Cla- 
rissa Harlowe,” and “‘Pamela” were, according 
to Miss Rosalie Halsey, read aloud in the family 
circle. When some particularly pathetic passage 
was reached the listeners would retire to sepa- 
rate apartments to weep. It was reported to 
Richardson that, on one of these occasions, an 
amiable little boy sobbed as if his sides would 
burst, and resolved to mind his books that he 
might read “Pamela” through without stopping. 

What publisher to-day would issue “Tom 
Jones” as a gift book for little girls and boys 
of eight and ten! And yet “Tom Jones,” 
“Clarissa Harlowe,” “Joseph Andrews,” “Sir 
Charles Grandison,” “Pamela” were all abridged 
for the use of children, and became the most 
popular of all juveniles. And well they might, 
after the dry-as-dust New England Primers and 
Protestant Tutors. It is a long jump from the 
Church of England Catechism to “Tom Jones!” 


[10] 


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When speaking of printing in America one 
cannot but mention Benjamin Franklin, who 
has been called the originator of everything 
original in this country. He must also have been 
the greatest of all advertisers, for his projects 
are more talked about to-day than when he 
lived. 

With his partner Hall he printed “Proposals 
Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensil- 
vania,” thus, in 1749, laying the foundations 
for what is now the University of Pennsylvania, 
as he did for so many other great Pennsylvania 
institutions, ‘Though it was not first printed 
in America, “The Story of the Whistle” is 
without doubt the best known tale of American 
youth. While Franklin was at Passy in 1775 
he printed it in French and in English on oppo- 
site pages in a charming little pamphlet, and 
gave it to his friends. Only two copies of this 
precious leaflet have survived, one of which is 
in this collection. In 1788, at the age of 82, 
he was keenly interested in juvenile books, 
partly because of his grandson, Benjamin Frank- 
lin Bache, to whom he had presented a press 
and types. Under the auspices of his celebrated 
grandfather Bache printed “Lessons for Chil- 
dren from Two to Five years Old,” in four small 


[11] 


volumes. Not satisfied merely with printing 
them as a pleasing experiment for his favorite 
grandson, Dr. Franklin used his wonderful 
ability and shrewdness, unimpaired by years, 
to make the venture pay. 

As the country grew older and richer, more 
attention was paid to sports and pastimes. Proba- 
bly the earliest sporting book issued appeared in 
the first year of American independence, — it 
was Philip Astley’s “The Modern Riding Mas- 
ter,” printed by Robert Aitken in 1776. This 
was followed by “Youthful Recreations,” pub- 
lished by Jacob Johnson in Philadelphia, which 
contains the first picture of football printed in 
this country. Johnson also published “Various 
Modes of Catching,” in which is one of the 
earliest American engravings of Angling. 

The greatest publishers of juvenile books in 
America were Isaiah Thomas in Worcester; 
Jacob Johnson, his successors, Johnson and 
Warner, and William Charles in Philadelphia, 
Mahlon Day and Samuel Wood in New York. 

Isaiah Thomas has probably been more writ- 
ten up than any of them. But in illustrating 
and binding his books he was outdone by Jacob 
Johnson. Many of Johnson’s books were illus- 


[12] 


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trated by Dr. Alexander Anderson, whose 
charming woodcuts rival, and rival successfully, 
those of the English Bewick. 

William Charles’ publications are among the 
most beautiful children’s books of the early 
Nineteenth Century. His little books were, 
many of them, entirely engraved, and the illus- 
trations prettily colored. He issued the old 
beloved Children’s rhymes: Dame Trot and her 
Comical Cat, Jack the Giant-Killer, Little Red 
Riding Hood. A long series extolls My Son, 
My Daughter, My Father, My Mother, and 
every other member of a large household. 

Printers early discovered that books for chil- 
dren should be in proportion to the juvenile 
clients, small. Miniature books have always 
held great fascination for children as well as 
their elders. Their very smallness makes them 
seem precious and desirable. Perhaps it was 
with a view to making children value Bible 
stories more highly that they were printed in 
tiny volumes, called Thumb Bibles. They were 
illustrated with woodcuts, more or less crude. 
Owing to size of these wee books, all less than 
two inches high, they are now extremely rare. 
One of the most interesting examples is the 


[13] 


Verbum Sempiternum, published in Boston in 
1765. They must always be among the most 
appealing books printed for American children. 

At the beginning of the nineteenth century 
“shockers” began to appear, each with its lurid — 
and more or less pertinent frontispiece. Now we 
have Spectre Mothers, Bleeding Nuns, Mother- 
less Marys. John Paul Jones’ life is issued in a 
dress to attract all small boys with an admiration 
and envy for buccaneers and their fierce and 
bloody deeds, Even Noah Webster, that staid 
dictionarist, writes ““The Pirates.” 

With these shockers, and the entertaining 
and picturesque Cries of London, New York 
and Philadelphia, the young people of the 
1810—1820’s were rather well off for colorful 
reading matter. That is, they were well off if 
not too forcibly fed upon “The Prize for 
Youthful Obedience,” “The Search after Hap- 
piness,” “Little Truths,” and the concoctions 
of Mrs. Barbauld, Maria Edgeworth, Mrs. 
Trimmer, Hannah More and Mrs. Pilkington. 
These righteous ladies hoped, no doubt, to lead 
little children away from light reading to tales 
that would edify if they did not completely 
anaesthetize. Charles Lamb was neither de- 
lighted nor improved by them, however. The 


[ 14] 


fact is, they drove him almost beside himself, 
and inspired the gentle Elia and his sister Mary 
to write those charming stories and poems that 
are a perennial delight to all children. The first 
American edition of “Poetry for Children” was 
Boston, 1812; that of the “Tales from Shake- 
speare,” Philadelphia, 1813. 

The history of the American child’s book 
after the year 1835 is better known to us, and 
the names of Peter Parley, Nathaniel Haw- 
thorne and others ring familiarly in our ears. 
The original manuscript of Hawthorne’s “Won- 
der Book for Boys and Girls” is shown for the 
first time in this exhibition. But it is the earlier 
volumes with their worn, faded covers that 
reveal to us, quaintly, picturesquely and truth- 
fully the quickening change from the days of 
the Pilgrim Fathers to our own time. 


[15] 


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